ECM is not the answer...

In our local Corellian Conflict campaign one of the Imperial players is using a fleet with 2 ISDs.  He has twice run up against the Planetary Ion Cannon when assaulting a Rebel base and come out the worse for it.  The ISDs were just not tough enough to survive the assault.  Which seems opposite of what you might expect.

This has coincided with the recent release of Minister Tua giving the much coveted Defensive Retrofit upgrade to more Imperial ships.  I have seen many fleets using her to add ECM in an attempt to improve the durability of ISD-Is and VSDs.

This got me thinking about some of the reasons it can be challenging to play with Large base ships in Armada.  The biggest of those challenges being durability.  So, what can you do about that?  The more I thought on what I was seeing on the table, the more sure I was that ECM is not the answer.

All Hail the X-Wing! - Best Escort (of Captial Ships) in Armada

After finding them a bit 'meh' when Armada was released I now love the X-wing.  I think that comes from finally learning how to use them as Escorts the right way.  Not for my other squadrons, but for my ships.

The Echelon

It's time for another video about tactics and formations.  This time I move on to talking about the Echelon formation, which works great for Star Destroyers and other ships with strong front arcs.

Capping the "T"

This post is the first in what I hope will be a series of tactics videos here on the blog.  While it is pretty easy to type about upgrades, admirals, and fleet lists I have struggled to communicate some of the tactical ideas I have wanted to talk about.  I am planning to use the videos to discuss maneuver, deployments, and formations in games of Armada.

Also, as another way to know when I have made a new post here you can follow me on Twitter @MrShmitty.  

Keep reading to see my first video:

100th Post - The Pelta!

Today FFG unleashed their preview of the Phoenix Home expansion and the Pelta with its Fleet Command Upgrades.  I have been eagerly awaiting this preview since seeing the Pelta model at GenCon.  The preview did not disappoint.

It also happened to coincide with my 100th post here at Concentrate Fire.  I had been planning something else for my 100th post, but that will have to wait.  I really want to talk about the new ship.  

But first, a big thanks to all of you that read this blog.  I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read through my ramblings on Armada.  Thanks for all of the encouragement you have given me along the way.  Now, let's talk about those new upgrades...

Command Tokens and Tactical Flexibility - An Ode to Garm Bel Iblis

My last battle report featured the two token generating admirals Garm and Tarkin.  The game got me thinking about command token use.  With Garm I tend to use the tokens for flexibility and 'burst' turns.  My opponent was using Tarkin to stack with his squadron commands and boost his primary tactic.  I think that both tactics are valid, but tend to see people using command tokens more with stacking in mind for super-commands.  I prefer using them for flexibility and thought I would share some of my reasoning.

New Objectives!!

One of the most exciting features of the Corellian Conflict was finally pre-viewed today.  The new objectives that come with the campaign, but that will be usable in any game of Armada from tournament to casual play.  Looking over my previous post on objectives, it says that I like objectives that give a strong advantage to the second player and allow for lots of bonus points to be scored.  That sounds like it is still true.  So, let's take a quick look at these new objectives through that same lens.

Interdicting Objectives

The Interdictor provides some truly unique options with its Experimental Retrofit upgrades.  As I went over in my last post the Interdictor isn't the most points efficient combat platform, so getting the most out of the Experimental Retrofits will be really important.  I thought I would take a run through the various objectives that we have right now and see if the Interdictor's bag of tricks might be useful with any of them.

Playing the Interdictor without Experimental Retrofits?

After my first game with the Wave 3 & 4 ships on Monday I was left really pleased with the play of the new Liberty and GR-75 ships that I used.  I felt like they will be pretty easy to integrate into our fleets and start to learn their tricks.  

I was also paying pretty close attention to the performance of the new Imperial ships as well.  I could start to see the potential of the Interdictor's new Experimental Retrofits in the game.  My opponent though had really focused on those and didn't really get the Interdictor in the best position to just be a ship.  While I think the early question for most people will be how to use the Interdictor to manipulate the game with the Retrofits, I think maybe a better question is how to get the most out of them when they aren't up to their experimental tricks.

So, let's look at how the Interdictor plays without any of it's crazy tech.

Some Objective Analysis

I tend to use similar Objectives in most of my fleets in Armada.  Partly this is because those objectives are suited to my play style.  Most of the reason is based on how I rate the objectives and what I am looking to get out of them.  This influences both the objectives that I play with my fleet and those of my opponent's that I choose when going first.

Herding With Star Destroyers

I have been having some success recently using a pair of Raiders to set traps for my opponents.  I came across the idea for the trap as a way to work around some of the disadvantages that are built into the Imperial ships.

5 Ships is the New Black

In my local area we've now had 2 of our store championships.  Both of these were won by similar, 5-ship Rebel lists.  If you read the FFG Armada forums, then you are likely aware of a 5-ship Imperial list that won a recent, large vassal tournament.  These wins reinforce my own perception that activation advantage is a huge benefit in competitive Armada and one that you need to account for as you prepare your own fleets.

Threat Radius Analysis

Recently, FFG forum member clontroper5 posted an excellent guide to threat radius of each ship in Armada.  I thought it was a great resource, so with his permission I am re-posting it here.

Falling out of love with the Assault Frigate

When all we had for Armada was the wave 1 ships, the Rebel Assault Frigate MkII was far and away my favorite ship.  It had a fantastic blend of firepower, toughness, and survivability that made it fun on the table top, even if it looked a little odd at times.  Lately though I find myself playing with them less frequently and when I do, being a bit underwhelmed by their performance.

The Right Tool (Squadron) for the Job

Getting the most out of your squadrons requires some forethought.  Probably the first thing to consider is what you want your squadrons to do.  Once you know that, it is pretty easy to find the best tool for the job.

The Best Defense

Defense in Armada is a difficult thing.  I consider this good game design.  If defense was easy, the game would take too long and frequently end in ties.  So, I'm glad that generally speaking offense outweighs defense.  Still though, playing some defense can give you an advantage in the game.  Dead ships don't get to shoot, so keeping your ships alive just one more turn can give you the firepower to win.

All Wings Report In!

It's time to get back to looking at squadrons and how to get the most out of them.  I started by looking at why squadron-free fleets have an advantage and then what you can do to make up that gap.  In this post, I want to take a look at the advantages squadrons can give your fleet.

The Importance of the "Trailer"

One of the key constraints in games of Armada is the 6 turn limit.  You are not left with a lot of time to maneuver before or after key engagements.  This can lead to a situation where an opposing ship survives its initial engagement with your fleet, but none of your forces are in a position to finish it off.  This has lead me to start detaching a ship in my fleet to act as a "trailer" with the specific job of finishing off any ships that survive the initial pass with my fleet.

I Hate Blanks....

While Star Wars Armada is a great game, it is also a dice game.  Which means there are just times when the dice will hate you.  Or at least it feels like they hate you.  In reality, I am rational enough to know that over the course of a game or several games your rolling will average out.  Still, in the small sample size of those crucial rolls, gamers always have the perception that the dice come up worse than they should.  

In the case of Armada this shows up in the form of the dreaded blank.  Both red and black dice have 2 blank sides, leaving you with a 25% chance of rolling one on a given die.  Compared to many games it is pretty forgiving to only have 25% of your rolls be potential failures.  For me though, it seems like they come in clumps.  And really, even when I beat the average and roll one blank in 5 dice it can be frustrating.  So how do we deal with the dreaded blanks?  Fortunately there are several ways.  Having some tricks to compensate for blank results in Armada can go along ways towards improving your firepower.

The Other Path

Earlier I looked at some of the advantages gained by playing a squadron-free fleet.  <link>  Since then we have gotten spoilers on the squadrons in the Rogues and Villains pack as well as the remaining upgrades from Wave 2.  So, where does that leave squadrons in Armada?  Well, let's take a look at how you can account for those advantages in squadron-heavy fleets.